Christopher Nolan together with his brother Jonathan Nolan who co-wrote the script of the film paid tribute to the legendary American super-hero ”“ Batman. The result is a movie that is more a criminal drama than an adventure film with special effects (although there are lots of them in the film). Christopher Nolan and his team chose a very grim material for their action; however, they started shooting it without any hesitation. The outcome of their work is indeed an impressive picture.

Batman’s cooperation with Detective Jim Gordon has its effects: Gotham City mafia groups suffer a devastating blow. Yesterday’s Street Kings are now only good at transferring their evil money abroad. Bruce Wayne’s new unofficial assistant becomes the new District Attorney Harvey Dent, who proclaims a crusade against the thieves, violators, and villains hiding behind the mask of law.

In the centre of the story is Joker, the “king of chaos”¯, starred by Heath Ledger. Everything is wrong in Joker, from his face and a strange vagrant walk to musical accompaniment full of disharmonious chords composed by Hans Zimmer. His emergence prevents the final and unconditional victory over the crime. Unlike his terrified colleagues, he goes to the frontal attack, ignoring the laws and unseen rules of the game.

Joker’s goal is to bring anarchy and chaos into the world. He is ready to stop his atrocities, but only under one condition: the people of Gotham should find out who exactly is behind the mask of Batman. Heath Ledger managed to create a character, which really gets viewer’s eyes glued to him. Despite the fact that Ledger was not so much time in shot, like the other actors playing the main roles, he filled the whole film with a sense of his presence.

The image of the heroic District Attorney Harvey Dent also takes a central place in the film. This role was performed by Aaron Eckhart.

Christopher Nolan made Harvey Dent a thematic centre of the film, a mirror, which reflects Joker and Batman. Dent’s heroism is not that he is trained and experienced police officer or a superhero. He is just an ordinary person who does everything what is in his power to make this huge cruel world better.

“The Dark Knight”¯ is a movie about Batman, but not only about Batman. Nolan enriches the world he creates and makes it deeper, revealing the essence of Batman.

Generally, the main hero is Batman, and he should be in the spotlight. However, he shares this place with Harvey Dent and Lieutenant Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman). Jim Gordon is really taking part in the adventures of Batman, and not just observing what is happening from the side. All the events affect him, his family, his worldview and spiritual growth.

The common hysteria (box-office takings records together with the highest rating on IMDb) is still strong and captures new territories without a fight. It is obvious (even according to these “external”¯ factors) that it is not just another summer cinema hit, but something exceptional, which has rapidly conquered everyone, simultaneously becoming a benchmark and reference point for the popular culture.

Like any movie, “The Dark Knight”¯ has its advantages and disadvantages, but, in my opinion, the film has much more positive sides.

The first one is directing. Christopher Nolan has done a great job! In my opinion, this film has something for almost every film fan. You want a stylish calibrated picture? ”“ Here you are! Want a smart twisted plot, unfolding in the course of the movie like a tightly compressed spring? ”“ Piece of cake! Want an ambiguous ending without a trivial happy ending, but with hope – you are welcome! You are looking for a drama and food for thought? You can be sure to get it!

Nolan created an entirely different world, his own vision of Gotham in general and Batman in particular. Some people prefer bright childish Schumacher comic, others prefer a dark gothic atmosphere superbly created by Burton. As for me, Nolan’s Batman and Gotham are better.

The city life, atmosphere and heroes’ characters are maximally lifelike. Apart from classy scenes and furious action, the director managed to perfectly convey the atmosphere of panic among the people whose lives are actually depend on two people – Batman and Joker. And how would you feel clearly knowing that you are just a pawn in a big unfair game, where the stake is your own life?

In “The Beginning”¯ the director made it clear that comic aesthetics (used by Burton and Schumacher) was not his end goal. And if in the previous episode the refuse from the usual methods of comic adaptations was proclaimed rather than executed, in “The Dark Knight”¯ Nolan goes to the end, achieving the highest degree of realism of the events unfolding on the screen. What we see is not a fairy tale with a set of stereotypical characters, but a full-fledged drama, embellished with a number of vigorous-paced action scenes. Keenly aware that the 150-million budget requires corresponding revenue in the box-office, Nolan, however, relies on drama, the depth of the characters, dialogues and internal conflict of the main characters.

Such an approach is a great dare. Nolan decided to test the strength of the viewer. It turned out that the regulars of multiplexes are completely able to perceive and understand not easily comprehendible product. It turned out that thinking and enjoying the visual effects at the same time is possible. It turned out that entertainment can not only make people laugh or cry, but it can also make them think. In short, Christopher Nolan clearly demonstrated that mass audience is not as silly as it seems to many Hollywood bosses. And the director deserves loud and prolonged applause for this (apart from all other things).

Christopher Nolan creates an excellent background of the film. Each role, even a secondary one, is well-thought-out to the smallest detail. Morgan Freeman and Ron Dean create unforgettable movie scenes. In my opinion, we should also note the actors’ perfect acting:

Christian Bale shows himself in the role of Batman as well as it could be possible. Michael Caine as Alfred is great, viewers are immediately conquered by his smile, wise eyes and delicate acting, but I’m surprised that such a venerable and respected actor agrees for such minor roles. Aaron Eckhart is persuasive in his positive image: honest, persistent, eager for justice, a man whose mind later gets distracted because of stresses of the surrounding cruel world. Maggie Gyllenhaal, in my opinion, is the most controversial choice in casting. In her role, she did not seem convincing to me and did not cause the feel involvement. Garry Oldman and Morgan Freeman are globally recognized stars, who brought their own unique taste and peculiarity to the film. And of course, Heath Ledger – certainly one of the brightest brilliants in the movie! In my opinion, this was his best role.

From the disadvantages of the movie I can only name a very long duration time (at the end it gets hard to keep up with all the upheavals of the plot) and, perhaps rather weak images of Gyllenhaal and Eckhart.

In general, in my subjective opinion, this film is something more than just a summer blockbuster and the next adventures of a billionaire in the costume of a bat. “The Dark Knight”¯ captures from the first minute. Christopher Nolan has shown that pleasure can be obtained even from a movie with such a gloomy content. In addition, “The Dark Knight”¯ is not only the best film of the summer, but the best film of the year, as evidenced by record box-office takings of the movie around the world.